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CITIES, PROSPERITY AND
INFLUENCE
The role of city diplomacy in shaping soft power in the 21st century
Jo Beall and David Adam
www.britishcouncil.org
March 2017 CITIES, PROSPERITY AND INFLUENCE
2
CONTENTS
Executive summary 3
Introduction 4
Why cities? 5
The economic importance of cities 6
Connecting cities internationally 9
Soft power and city diplomacy 10
The instruments of city diplomacy 12
Cities and international relations 16
City diplomacy and influence through networks 20
Art, citizenship and the public realm 22
Policy implications and conclusions 23
CITIES, PROSPERITY AND INFLUENCE 3
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
For the first time in history most people now live in cities. Cities are fundamental to
economic and cultural development. They produce 80% of world GDP. They act as
significant sources of soft power. Their influence is the organic product of many actors, but is
no less significant for that.
They are also increasingly important to political issues, as they more and more make
connections between themselves, including through various international cities networks. In
recent years diplomacy conducted by cities and their contribution to national influence has
grown greatly in scale and importance. This trend is important, as the 21st century
challenges of creating prosperous and stable societies around the world cannot be
addressed by nation states alone. With globalisation, cities - long sources of prosperity and
culture - will increasingly become important players in their own right in addressing
international political, social, and security issues.
Cities derive their power from their density and diversity, acting as meeting points for goods,
people and ideas. They are attractors and connectors in an increasingly networked world.
The rise of digital technology may allow many of the functions traditionally provided only by
cities to happen anywhere, but there is little sign of the increasing growth or power of cities
slowing down.
This paper examines how cities can shape their own destinies and help address urban,
national and international challenges. It explores the increasingly important balance
between nations - which must give their cities the autonomy and support they need to
prosper - and cities - which need to ensure that their pursuit of city-led agendas do not run
counter to national interests and diplomacy. These conclusions have significant implications
for organisations and individuals within cities, as well as for cities and nations themselves.
The policy implications include the need for national governments to understand the role
cities can play in supporting foreign policy and soft power strategies and supporting them in
this, while at the same time respecting their autonomy in how they project and engage
around their very considerable soft power assets.
City governments and policymakers need to consider their options for global influence,
developing international strategies where appropriate, making the most of opportunities to
build international ties. It is important too that they pursue their international engagement
and city-level diplomacy alongside national strategies and ensure they do not directly
counter national public diplomacy and foreign policy interests.
An important conclusion is that city promotion and diplomacy is most effective when it is
consistent with the reality of a city’s citizens. City strategies succeed when they prioritise
quality of life as a measure of success and enhance that quality of life for all its citizens by
encouraging prosperity, openness, and equal access to the benefits of city life. City dwellers
can be made better aware of the growing number of ways in which they benefit from their
cities’ international engagement and how they can contribute to that engagement and their
cities’ soft power through their own international relationships and networks.
CITIES, PROSPERITY AND INFLUENCE 4
INTRODUCTION
For the first time in history the majority of people now live in cities. While industrialized
countries have been predominantly urban for decades, the trend towards an increasingly
urban world in the 21st century is being driven primarily by urbanization in low and middle-
income countries, particularly in Africa and Asia.1 Throughout history, cities have played a
crucial role in social, economic and political transformation. Cities are social melting pots,
centres of economic innovation, political engagement and cultural interchange. They
represent the most eloquent expression of human beliefs, ideals and ambitions. The
physical environment of the city is the product of the ingenuity of people as well as an
important arena in which human activity thrives.
Urban centres offer economies of scale in the delivery of public goods and services and in
most countries contribute disproportionately to the national economy. Cities are an
increasingly important economic and cultural force in world affairs. Growing rapidly, they
often outweigh countries in economic scale and importance. It will be common to find
previously little known cities with economies the size of countries - such as Tianjin in China
with by 2025 a GDP of $625 billion, approximately that of all of Sweden. This is a global
pattern, with World Bank figures showing that 80% of world GDP is generated in cities, and
McKinsey estimating that 60% of world GDP is generated by just 600 cities.2
The 21st century is characterized by the phenomenon of so-called ‘world cities’ or ‘global
cities’, which constitute the locations and marketplaces for leading contemporary economic
activities. Saskia Sassen traces their ascendancy to the late 1980s, moving beyond the
original major financial centres - the original global cities of London, New York, Hong Kong
and Tokyo – to include many more urban centres participating in the global economy.3
Given these changes it is vital to understand the economic importance of cities and the rise
of their social and political influence on world affairs. In this paper we ask how cities can
shape their own destiny and develop their own international profiles and responses to
contemporary global challenges? What role can cities play not only as economic contributors
to metropolitan, national and global prosperity but also in shaping good societies,
characterized by stability, peace and security? As we look towards addressing these
questions we examine the role of city diplomacy in the promotion of urban fortunes as well
as the exercise of soft power in international relations.
1 Urbanization refers to the proportion of a country’s population living in urban areas; urban growth
refers to the growth in the absolute size of a country’s urban population. 2 http://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/the-four-
global-forces-breaking-all-the-trends 3 Saskia Sassen (2000) Cities in a World Economy, Pine Forge Press, Sage Publications Inc.
CITIES, PROSPERITY AND INFLUENCE 5
WHY CITIES?
The American historian Lewis Mumford famously observed that ‘there is not a single function
performed in the city that cannot be performed – and has not in fact been performed – in the
open country’.4 So what is so special or unique about the urban context? In his book The
City: A Global History, Joel Kotkin answers this question by following the progression of
cities from the early religious centers of Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley, and China to the
imperial capitals of the classical era, through the rise of Islamic cities and the centres at the
heart of European international commerce, ending with reflections on the contemporary
post-industrial suburban metropolis. He concludes that, despite their infinite variety, all cities
serve essentially three functions: economic, political and spiritual. In more secular contexts
we might call the last ‘social’. To flourish, he argues, cities must remain sacred, safe and
busy. He posits that the greatest challenge to our urban future is that posed by present day
religious and cultural struggles that in their most extreme form are reflected in terrorist
attacks, which are increasingly an urban phenomenon.5
While history provides one clue to the importance of cities over time, contemporary analysis
has also demonstrated the benefits that accrue by virtue of large numbers of people living in
close proximity and in relative density, in centres characterized by social diversity and under
conditions of the dynamic social change accompanying urban growth. 6 It is this
concentration, or congregation of human activity, energy and ingenuity that brings a space to
life and gives it a distinctly urban character.
From their earliest forms to the present day, cities have been focal points for the exchange
of information, knowledge and ideas and the accumulation of goods and capital. They serve
as nuclei for trade and public administrations around which city-regional economies and
socio-political orders evolve. Cities also have political influence that extends way beyond
their immediate environs and hinterlands. In other words, cities deserve a particular focus
but to focus on cities is not to ignore the regions and countries of which they are a part.
Cities are the spatial and organizational expression of social relations. 7 They are
cosmopolitan centres of social engagement and cultural interchange. However, as a result of
the rapid pace of urban change, in recent decades metropolitan governments have not
always kept pace with the demands being made upon them. Particularly in low- and middle-
income countries many national governments have woefully neglected the urban context in
their policy and planning priorities. As a result, across the world today one third of all urban
4 Lewis Mumford (1937) ‘What is a City?’ Architectural Record, reprinted in Richard Le Gates and
Frederic Stout (Eds) The City Reader, 3rd
edition, London: Routledge, p. 34. 5 Joel Kotkin (2006) The City: A Global History, New York: Modern Library.
6 Jo Beall, Basudeb Guha-Khasnobis and Ravi Kanbur (2010) ‘Beyond the Tipping Point: A
Multidisciplinary Perspective on Urbanization and Development’ in Jo Beall, Basudeb Guha-Khasnobis and Ravi Kanbur (eds) Urbanization and Development, Multidisciplinary Perspectives, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 3-16. 7 Jo Beall (1997) ‘Valuing Difference and Working with Diversity’ in Jo Beall (ed.) A City for All,
London: Zed Books, p. 3.
CITIES, PROSPERITY AND INFLUENCE 6
dwellers live in slums and without adequate shelter or basic services. Cities in the advanced
economies have seen the vibrancy, edginess, security and safety of urban life rocked by
acts of terror.8 It is hardly surprising, therefore, that many contemporary commentators
emphasize the negative aspects of city life, focusing on crime and violence, social
fragmentation and breakdown and the negative impact of growing social exclusion and
differentiation.9
Cities are sites of innovation, creativity and social dynamism. Urban centres offer economies
of scale in the delivery of public goods and social services and in most countries contribute
disproportionately to the national economy. Nevertheless, it is also important to recognize
that cities are literally concrete manifestations of ideas on how society was, is and should
be. Historically the emergence and growth of cities was predicated on social hierarchy and
cities remain highly unequal: sites where expressions of wealth and power exist side by side
with social exclusion and marginalization. So as we explore the importance of cities we
cannot ignore what is challenging and bleak about city life, alongside the enormous
opportunities and benefits that arise out of the encounters between the robust, diverse,
creative and ingenious people who inhabit them.
THE ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF CITIES
It is the elements of proximity, density and diversity that underpin what economists call
‘agglomeration effects’ being the clustering of people and economic activity in space,
allowing access to larger and more diverse talent pools and encouraging the more ready
exchange of information, knowledge and ideas. 10 While it is extraordinarily difficult to
accurately measure and assess the effects of diversity empirically, several studies provide
robust evidence that diversity does encourages growth at both the industry and city level.11
Underpinning the economic value provided by cities is also the fact that the delivery of public
goods and services benefits enormously from the economies of scale offered by
concentrated populations.
8 Jo Beall and Sean Fox (2009) Cities and Development, London: Routledge.
9 A companion piece to this paper on Cities and Security is currently in production.
10 Henry G. Overman and Anthony J. Venables (2010) ‘Evolving City Systems’ in Jo Beall, Basudeb
Guha-Khasnobis and Ravi Kanbur (eds) Urbanization and Development, Multidisciplinary
Perspectives, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 103-123. 11
See Ed Glaeser, H.D. Kallal, J.A. Scheinkman and A. Schleifer (1992) ‘Growth in cities’, Journal of
Political Economy, 100: 1126–1152; J.V. Henderson, A. Kuncoro and M. Turner (1995) ‘Industrial
development in cities’, Journal of Political Economy, 103: 1067–1085.Henderson et al. 1995;
Rosenthal, Stuart and William Strange (2004) ‘Evidence on the nature and sources of agglomeration
economies’, in J.V. Henderson and J. Thisse (eds) Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, Vol.
4, Amsterdam: North-Holland.
CITIES, PROSPERITY AND INFLUENCE 7
Cities in the 21st century are vastly different from those that characterized the start of the 20th
century. Globalization has significantly reduced the costs of transporting goods, people,
information, knowledge and money, leading to the question as to whether cities will remain
as important as in the past.
Yet some have argued that cities are as important if not more important than nations in the
context of contemporary economic globalization. At its heart are a network of internationally
connected cities, linked by way of innovations in telecommunications and the ascendancy of
the information age. These so-called ‘world cities’ or ‘global cities’ are the command and
control locations and marketplaces for leading contemporary economic activities, especially
in sectors that require a concentration of professional and skilled labour.
Accompanying this process has been a decline in the fortunes of those cities with
economies based mainly on heavy manufacturing industry and a concomitant reduction in
demand for unskilled or semi-skilled labour. Hence some cities in the old industrialized world
are declining in economic importance, contributing to a shrinking proportion of national and
regional wealth, while remaining home to large and increasingly impoverished populations.
While some cities have seen their economic functions shrink or disappear – Detroit at the
time of the decline of the American car industry would be the iconic case - others like those
of the United Kingdom’s ‘Northern Powerhouse’ are adapting to shifting economic trends
and prospering. A key to the continued economic success of such cities is their ability to
connect internationally as part of a process of adapting and appealing to new economic
opportunities and markets.
The ‘world cities’ paradigm has preoccupied itself with mapping an international hierarchy of
cities based on the concentration of global service sector firms in each city, the transport and
communications connections between and among them, as well as the concentration of
financial capital to be found within them. At the top are those that are dubbed ‘global cities’,
including New York, London, Tokyo, Paris, Frankfurt, Zurich, Amsterdam, Sydney and Hong
Kong. These cities, which are estimated to number about 40 increasingly interact and have
transactions with so-called emerging ‘world cities’ such as Sao Paulo, Mexico City, Mumbai,
and Seoul. It has been suggested by some commentators that global cities have managed
to free themselves from national constraints and operate almost independently of nations,
while at the same time leading to a radical reorganization of the ‘international space
economy’.12
The ongoing work of the Globalization and World Cities (GaWC) group reveal big changes in
the number and type of cities that are taking on international functions. Today, of the one
hundred most globalized cities according to GaWC data, 44 are middle-income and lower-
income cities with a real GDP per capita of below US$25,000. This data refers primarily to
cities becoming international nodes of finance.13 There is a consistency of experience that
12 John Friedmann and G. Wolf (1982) ‘World City Formation: An agenda for research and action’,
International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 15(1), p. 310. 13
Peter Taylor, P.J., Beaverstock, J.V., Derudder, B., Faulconbridge, J., Harrison, J., Hoyler, M.,
CITIES, PROSPERITY AND INFLUENCE 8
can be mapped across this variety of cities facing intense exposure to global economic
trends and developing international functions. However, there are a large number of cities
around the world, which ‘do not register on intellectual maps that chart the rise and fall of
global and world cities’.14
Such ‘ordinary cities’ are also relevant to the global economy in various ways, playing an
important role as centres of production, consumption and service provision for city-regional
economies and beyond. The economic conditions and livelihood opportunities for the world’s
city dwellers vary enormously and for some the lack of opportunities leaves them no option
but to seek a living in other, larger and more distant urban centres. The phenomenon of
international migration is overwhelmingly an urban phenomenon.
What is clear from the discussion above then, is that not all cities are similarly connected or
positioned in the global economy. Nor are they equally well placed to engage in city
diplomacy or the exercise of soft power. To help us navigate and understand the breadth of
contrast amongst the economic and social character of cities as well as help us understand
the variety of approaches to soft power and city diplomacy available to cities, it is useful to
employ a typology of cities. The JLL Cities Research Centre provides a taxonomy of cities
aimed at measuring investment performance:15
a) Established World Cities are highly globalized and competitive metropolitan economies
with the deepest and most settled concentrations of firms, capital and talent. This would
include the ‘Big Six’ ‘super cities’: London, New York, Paris and Tokyo, more recently
joined by Hong Kong and Singapore.
b) Emerging World Cities: business and political capitals of large or medium-sized
emerging economies that function as gateways for international firms, trade and
investment. This category includes the likes of Shanghai, Beijing, Istanbul and Sao
Paulo. However, in this group, shape and growth are uneven: Shenzhen, Dubai and
Bangalore, for example, are globalizing at breakneck speed; Jakarta, Manila and Sao
Paulo are making notable improvements in key competitiveness measures; but other
cities, like Dhaka struggle to cope with global change.
c) New World Cities: these are small or medium-sized cities that have an attractive
infrastructure and strong quality of life, and deliberately specialize in a limited number of
global markets. Brisbane, Melbourne and Boston are archetypal ‘New World Cities’.
Many possess high-tech, innovation or research capabilities, such as Vienna, Munich
and Tel Aviv. Others like Barcelona, Berlin, Miami and Cape Town are cultural,
Pain, K. and Witlox, F. (eds) (2013) Global Cities: Critical Concepts in Urban Studies, London:
Routledge. [4 volumes; Joseph Parilla, Jesus Trujillo, Alan Berube and Tao Ran (2015) Brookings
Global Metro Monitor, An Uncertain Recovery 2014. 14
Jennifer Robinson (2002) ‘Global and World Cities: A View from off the Map’, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 26(1), p. 531. 15
JLL Cities Research Center (2015) Globalisation and Competition: The New World of Cities, http://www.jll.com/cities-research.
CITIES, PROSPERITY AND INFLUENCE 9
entertainment and tourist hubs. The majority feature at the top of the various ‘quality of
life’ and ‘sustainability’ indices and has had notable success in attracting fluid capital,
companies and talent (see for example Auckland, Copenhagen, Vancouver and Vienna).
CONNECTING CITIES INTERNATIONALLY
In the sphere of international relations the rules of engagement conventionally have been
primarily fashioned by military and economic strength. However, this order is often
underpinned by the exercise of soft power: the world of ideas and values: the art of attraction
through sharing of cultures and ways of life. Although soft power is usually identified with
nation states, cities can and do exercise soft power. This sometimes works in tandem with
the desires and interests of the nation-states of which they are a part and indeed, city
diplomacy may well be an extension of broader state power. It is also possible, however,
that the values, ideas and interests of cities can be exercised on their own account and even
stand in contrast to the hard power of nation states. Furthermore, we can discern a
commonality between cities and they are increasingly forming international networks based
around shared concerns. These have the potential to define 21st century attitudes towards a
range of national and global challenges.
The soft power of cities is manifested both directly and indirectly. We can classify the direct
expressions of city soft power - the international policies and actions of the Mayor and City
Hall - as city diplomacy. In order to secure the economic benefits of globalization, city
diplomacy has tended to include activities ranging from international relations with other
cities, such as city twinning or fora of mayors and local government associations, to the
promotion of the city as a destination for inward investment and tourism. City diplomacy also
includes bidding for and winning major events such as the Olympics and international
festivals as well as myriad other cultural and brand positioning activities.
Indirect expressions of city soft power radiate from the character of the city itself. A city, just
like a nation, is more than its governing body or political leadership; it is made up of many
institutions - educational, cultural, and commercial – that constitute its soft power assets. A
city’s soft power is also the sum expression of civil society, the character of the people and
institutions that define the experience of working, living and being in the city. Cities contain
many of the soft power assets that give states (and indeed cities) comparative advantage in
world affairs. These include historic landmarks, artistic and sporting spaces and events,
educational bodies, cultural centres such as museums, theatres and public spaces, as well
as a range of other activities and institutions that go to make up a country’s cultural heritage.
Cities are natural attractors as proven by their continued growth in population size and
economic importance. Their inherently cosmopolitan nature attracts ideas, inventions,
creative minds, art, culture, food and commerce. Every city that has experienced a ‘golden
age’ from 5th BC Athens, to 15th century Florence, 16th century London, 19th century
CITIES, PROSPERITY AND INFLUENCE 10
Vienna, has drawn in ideas, people and commerce from as wide a circle as the technology
of their day would allow.16 Cities have always been hives of ambition and activity, explosive
expressions of culture, trade and economy. The more open and inviting, the more
cosmopolitan a city, the more its soft power expands and is reinforced.
Cities are also connectors. In an age of globalization the shape of the world economy is
increasingly being defined by and mediated through cities. Cities are the physical ports and
the virtual nodes through which national economies connect and it is this international
connectivity that is creating greater interdependency and generating shared interest and
purpose through the interactions of citizens globally. With increased connectivity and
economic interdependence among cities a new kind of global cosmopolitanism is emerging,
one in which a young citizen of Shanghai may have a greater commonality of experience
and outlook with a young person in London than with someone in rural parts of their own
country.
SOFT POWER AND CITY DIPLOMACY
Soft Power is understood as the ability of one actor to influence the perceptions and
behaviour of another through attraction rather than through force or coercion.17 Soft power
has generally been seen as the preserve of nation-states. However, it is no longer just
nation-states that exercise soft-power values. Traditional state-to-state international relations
and diplomatic initiatives now operate alongside supra- and sub-national actors, many of
which espouse their own values and assert their own soft power agendas.
Public Diplomacy and Citizen Diplomacy
Public Diplomacy is a component part of soft power, being the attempt by a government to
systematically direct the values and ideas it embodies towards external audiences. The idea
of soft power is not without its critics. Nye himself points out that the concept has its
limitations and discusses the views of critics of soft power who believe the exercise of hard
power to be a more effective instrument of foreign policy. Nye also identifies those who
consider soft power to be best exercised outside the control of government policymakers,
that is, emanating primarily from civil society. He cites by way of example the influence of
Hollywood, Harvard and Microsoft on the international popular imagination of America.
Non-state actors often do provide a more accurate manifestation of soft power than
governments. The deliberative actions of civil society organizations are sometimes
characterized as citizen diplomacy, a concept used to refer to ordinary citizens engaging as
country representatives either by default or design, informally or through official channels.
The term is in widest currency in the United States where: ‘Citizen Diplomacy is the concept
16 Peter Hall (1998) Cities and Civilisation: Culture, Technology and Urban Order, London: Weidenfeld
and Nicholson. 17
Joseph Nye (1990) ‘Soft Power’, Foreign Policy, 80 (Autumn), p. 153-171.
CITIES, PROSPERITY AND INFLUENCE 11
that the individual has the right, even the responsibility, to engage across cultures and
create shared understanding through person-to-person interactions.’ Citizen diplomats can
be students, teachers, athletes, artists, business people, humanitarians, adventurers or
tourists.18
Cultural Relations
We prefer the term cultural relations to refer to the fostering of global intercultural dialogue
and cooperation through science, education, language and the arts. Close to citizen
diplomacy, ‘cultural relations’ has a stronger focus on mutuality and reciprocity. They are
built on sustained dialogue over long periods of time and leading to the establishment of
stronger and deeper relationships between cultures and can include state institutions
alongside non-state actors. A cultural relations approach can be distinguished from state-led
activities such as public diplomacy and nation branding because it does not originate with
the policies of governments or from the directives of state actors.19 Nevertheless, they
remain a tangible and increasingly important element of international relations, whether they
operate with or against the grain of national interests in the respective countries involved.20
The exercise of cultural relations is not overly engineered and is more organic than public
diplomacy or citizen diplomacy.
City Diplomacy
We use the term city diplomacy to refer to the widest range of international activity on the
part of cities, including some activities that might be better categorized as pure economic
advancement such as tourism promotion, or efforts to attract Foreign Direct Investment
(FDI). However, we make a distinction between activities aimed at advocating on behalf of a
city’s economic or political interests and those initiatives that harness the intrinsic soft power
of the city: the cultural relations activities of civil society which are in effect a summation of
the city’s ideas and values.
There are some important distinctions to make between the nature of soft power exercised
by nations and that of the city. City diplomacy, as a manifestation of soft power, charts a
different course from national diplomacy. City diplomacy has less structure, less direct
influence and fewer formal tools at its disposal. As a result city diplomacy and city-to-city
dialogue operate inside a framework that lends itself more easily to collaborative approaches
and cooperation: cultural relations if you will. Cities can form an important part of national
strategies as well as developing their own international engagement initiatives. States may
therefore co-opt cities to become part of their diplomatic toolkit; the question is the degree of
autonomy a city can or needs to have from nation state agendas in order to be effective
18 https://www.centerforcitizendiplomacy.org
19 Simon Anholt (2003) Brand New Justice: The upside of global branding, Oxford: Butterworth
Heinemann. 20
Yudhishtir Isar (2014) Preparatory Action: Culture in EU External Relations, Brussels: European Union.
CITIES, PROSPERITY AND INFLUENCE 12
agents of soft power. To what extent can a city’s soft power compliment or counteract a
contradictory set of nation state values?
Globalization processes increasingly challenge the effectiveness of both the hard and soft
power of states. The nature of borderless problems such as terrorism, migration, health
pandemics and financial risk highlight the inadequacy of purely hard power responses.
INSTRUMENTS OF CITY DIPLOMACY
Most cities engage in international activity with the primary aim of securing economic benefit.
Whether by the promotion of the city as an inward investment destination or by hosting a
major event, the stated aims of city leaders usually emphasize that improving the profile of
the city will help boost economic growth. In a globally fluid economy cities thrive by their
ability to capture investment and so it is important for city leaders to respond to global
economic opportunities and attempt to capture a portion of the global flows of trade,
investment and talent. Since the early 1980s the interconnectedness of the world economy
has been determined more by FDI than by trade.21 This is a significant factor for cities, which
are primary recipients of FDI. In addition, world tourism continues to grow and to be an
important source of income for many cities. International tourist arrivals grew by 4.4% in
2015 to reach a total of 1,184 million in 2015, according to January 2015 UNWTO World
Tourism Barometer 22. Some 50 million more tourists travelled to international destinations
around the world last year as compared to 2014. These trends can determine the economic
success of a city and often the economic success of their host nations often depends upon
them as well.
Investment, Economic Promotion and Place-branding
The basic economic promotion toolkit includes promotion of inward investment, trade
missions and trade shows, tourism promotion and talent attraction. But cities undertake
multiple forms of economic promotional activity including bidding for and hosting major
events such as the Olympics, cultural investment, best practice policy exchange, engaging
in international networks of various kinds as well as through urban design and architecture
statements and infrastructure investment. Mayoral speeches, media articles and the web
presence and profile of cities also play their part. These tools of the trade are used in
different ways by different types of cities and all are not always available to everyone.
Economic promotion is often undertaken directly by City Hall or by a city leader such as the
Mayor but city governance varies significantly within and across territories and such
activities can also be undertaken by the private sector as well as civic and cultural
institutions that are at arm's length or entirely separate from government. The often informal
21 Peter Dicken (2016), Global Shift, London: Sage Publications. p18
22 UNTWO, Tourism Highlights, 2015. http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/pdf/10.18111/9789284416899
CITIES, PROSPERITY AND INFLUENCE 13
and sometimes organic nature of cities can mean that no one single voice ‘owns the brand’,
so that many collaborating and competing groups might contribute to the goal of developing
a city’s international profile.
Established World Cities are more likely to make grand statements on the world stage such
as undertaking Olympic bids, alongside subtler approaches of city diplomacy such as
cultural exchange.
Emerging world cities have similar aspirations but have to work harder to achieve them. The
most tangible measure of talent attraction is in the number of overseas students registered
to study in a city but it can also include the total proportion of a city’s workforce or
professional cadre that is foreign-born.
Perhaps the most sophisticated cities in the realm of economic promotion are within the
grouping of New World Cities - medium sized cities that have had to develop their
international profile in order to attract investment. Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Berlin are
cities with incredibly strong ‘brand’ recognition, not only because of their important and
recognized histories but because they have also developed a sophisticated promotional
apparatus, including both profile-raising infrastructure and brand messaging. Each of them
shares a common underlying message in their brand ‘call to action’, whether it is
‘Copenhagen', ‘I Amsterdam’, or ‘Be Berlin’. The message is directed at the individual and
the desire to pursue one’s own interests. In other words, the brand message is less about
the specific characteristics of the city and more ‘you’, the person ‘invited’ who can become
anything you want to be, by being ‘here’.
It’s hard to make a quantitative measure of ephemeral indicators such as culture and brand,
but we can look to various indices and perception studies to gain a sense of their impact.
Copenhagen’s international reputation as a progressive, forward-looking city is well
established amongst aspiring and ambitious cities - demonstrated by New York imitating its
bicycling strategy in 2012 - and the strength of the idea of Copenhagen as a policy innovator
spills over into the popular imagination with Copenhagen consistently topping ‘quality of life’
indices, such as quantitative studies such as Mercer (9th in 2016)23 , as well as more
subjective popular surveys such as Monocle magazine’s Quality of Life index (3rd 2016)24.
Similarly, Amsterdam, although a small city has a global brand reputation, which punches
above its weight for good quality of life, cultural offer and buzz, as also reflected in its entry
into the Monocle rankings (20th). Perhaps significantly for cities like Amsterdam this index
attempts to measure cultural factors as an important indicator of livability. The ‘buzz’ of the
city is measured in how late nightclubs stay open, something which may seem ephemeral
23 Mercer Quality of Life Index, (2016), http://www.mercer.com/newsroom/western-european-cities-
top-quality-of-living-ranking-mercer.html 24
Monocle Quality of Life index (2016) https://monocle.com/film/affairs/top-25-cities-2016/
CITIES, PROSPERITY AND INFLUENCE 14
but is integral to the city’ brand management strategy of projecting an image of openness,
tolerance, livability and a centre for nightlife.25
The city of Berlin is part of this cohort of mid-sized cities which is increasingly extending its
soft power reach through investment in culture and prioritization of quality of life measures,
and significantly challenging the cultural reputation and status of more established world city
brands, ranking second in Monocle's survey after Tokyo. 26 The link between culture and
global financial centre status and their reinforcing soft power reach may be of greater
relevance than is widely recognized. A recent GaWC study has highlighted the importance
to the arts and culture to sustaining and developing financial ‘global city’ status, asking if
they are in fact 'two sides of the same coin'. The evidence points to the importance of
Berlin's reputation as a global arts centre, perhaps enhancing Berlin's long-term economic
prospects.27
The city of Medellín in Colombia offers an interesting example of how imaginative city
leadership has transformed the image of the city internationally. Once known as home to
Pablo Escobar, the notorious narco-trafficker and his cocaine cartel and formerly wracked by
violence perpetrated by armed conflict with the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de
Colombia (FARC) and other paramilitary forces, it is now possible to enjoy civic spaces,
consumerist delights in middle class neighbourhoods and to visit the city’s surrounding
working class comuna by way of the city’s new cable-car network. In 2013 Medellín was
hailed as the ‘most innovative city in the world’ by the influential Urban Land Institute28 and
this year, it won the Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize, awarded in recognition of innovative
and sustainable urban solutions. An important part of this transformation, which has been
described as nothing short of a ‘metropolitan miracle’, 29 was the foresightedness of
ambitious city level politicians and officials for both locally generated and focused policies
addressing social inclusion, efforts towards sustaining and growing the economic base of the
city, and internationally, the pursuit of profile and partnerships,30 including the hosting of the
prestigious UN-Habitat World Economic Forum in 2014.
25.M. Kavaratzis & G. J. Ashworth (2006), Changing the Tide: The campaign to re-brand Amsterdam,
Urban and Regional Studies Institute, University of Groningen. 26
Monocle Quality of Life index (2016) https://monocle.com/film/affairs/top-25-cities-2016/ 27
M.J. Skórska*, R.C. Kloosterman (2012), Performing on the Global Stage: Exploring the
Relationship between Finance and Arts in Global Cities, GaWC.
http://www.lboro.ac.uk/gawc/rb/rb412.html 28
Chris Moss (2015) ‘Medellín Colombia: A Miracle of Reinvention, The Guardian, 29.09.15. 29
Francisco Guitierrez, M.T. Guitierrez, T. Guzman, J.C. Arenas and M.T.Pinto (2012) ‘Of Guns,
Ideas and Taxes: Understanding the political logic of violence-reducing policy innovation in three
Colombian cities’ in Dennis Rodgers, Jo Beall and Ravi Kanbur (eds) Latin American Urban
Development into the 21st Century: Towards a Renewed Perspective on the City, New York: Palgrave
Macmillan, pp. 186-204. 30
Jo Beall conversation with Sergio Fajardo, Governor of the Province of Antioquia (2013) and British
Council engagement with the city of Medellin and Antioquia Province.
CITIES, PROSPERITY AND INFLUENCE 15
From Student Attraction to City Alumni
The value of foreign students to cities goes way beyond the fees they pay to universities or
the spending they generate in city economies. The value for the city also lies in the long-
term relationship that is built so a student’s experience can shape their lifelong affinity to that
city. City diplomacy strategies increasingly focus on student recruitment, working with
universities to outline the benefits not just of studying a given course but also to enhance the
totality of the experience of living there and taking part in city life. As international students
integrate into the life of the city beyond their college or university they are likely to build a
shared commonality of values and long-term relationships.
There has been a definitive trend for both established cities and new world cities seeking to
attract students from emerging market cities and countries. The established cities often
attract internationally mobile students by virtue of the strength of their profile and the world-
class reputation of their universities.
New World Cities such as Sydney, Melbourne, Montreal, and Berlin not only make it into the
top ten of the QS Survey of ‘Best Cities to Be a Student’, but are close behind established
cities in the top six, such as London, Hong Kong, Paris and Singapore. Melbourne, being
geographically well placed in Asia has intently focused on building a reputation as a study
destination and the fact that it ranks high in various ‘livability’ indices has helped. Yet
Melbourne has also had the foresight to recognize these qualities and shape them as part of
its economic promotion strategy, building in the process a long-term cultural relations
strategy through attracting students. Cities such as Melbourne are actively welcoming and
educating people who will one day become future business and political leaders in fast
growing emerging markets. As such they are deliberately investing in their long-term
prosperity.
Tourism Promotion
As an internationally traded service, tourism has become one of the world’s major trade
categories, ranking fourth after fuels, chemicals and food. Globally, cities like London and
Hong Kong remain top tourist destinations.31 Many European cities such as Rome, Florence
and Milan attract tourists as religious, cultural and fashion centres. Because tourism is an
important economic tool for cities there are many examples of cities that have transformed
their economies by deliberately focusing on the promotion of the city as a tourist destination.
For example, Barcelona significantly transformed its economic prospects by hosting the
Olympic Games in 1992. At that time it attracted just over 1.5 million visitors annually while
today it attracts over eight million and is one of the top city tourist destinations in the world. It
remains to be seen whether Rio de Janeiro will be able to achieve the same long-term
31 UNWTO (2012) Global Report on City Tourism, Madrid: United Nations World Tourism
Organisation
CITIES, PROSPERITY AND INFLUENCE 16
benefits and much will depend on sustained and coordinated national and metropolitan
policy agendas that can build on the profile the Games provided the city in 2016.
Since the first democratic elections in 1994 South Africa has moved from global pariah to
one promoting itself as a tourist destination, as has the city of Cape Town in its own right,
projecting its natural and cultural resources, its man-made attractions and culturally diverse
and vibrant population. It has a tourism development framework that specifically includes a
focus on how tourism can benefit the people of Cape Town, while also working on
calculating the economic value of tourism specific to the city.
CITIES AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Cities also engage in international relations for reasons that go beyond their immediate
economic interest, in particular, through major events, policy exchange and cultural
exchange. A city hall needs an international relations department to define policy responses
on a range of international issues that are often within the city’s sphere of influence, such as
climate change and environmental policies, as well as outside of it, for example solidarity
with other cities experiencing natural disasters or in the wake of acts of terror. These
departments might be required to develop funding bids to supra-national bodies such as the
World Bank, United Nations and the European Union, to undertake policy responses.
Major Events
The top three prizes in terms of being at the most significant scale and generating the
greatest exposure are the Olympic Games, the Federation of International Football
Associations (FIFA) World Cups and World Expos. Major events can have multiple impacts
on the soft power, perceptions and international relations of host cities.
A number of benefits remain economic, including the alignment of the event in question with
sectoral and business growth strategies in the city or nation, increased co-operation
between public and private sectors through investment partnerships; enhanced image and
identity impact attracting greater investment and trade; and the structural expansion of the
visitor economy and supply chain development and expansion.
The evidence that major events generate direct economic benefit is contested, although it is
generally agreed that they can have an internal catalyzing effect that generates an economic
legacy over the longer-term, even if immediate economic returns remain elusive. It is for this
reason that it takes a certain amount of wealth and capacity to be able to host such events,
which in turn become the preserve of those cities that can afford to wait for returns on the
external legitimacy these events confer.
Thus the long-term economic benefits are a mix of internal catalyzing activities and external
promotional value. The former gear up domestic businesses to undertake international
activity and are ultimately harnessed in the service of the latter, being international brand or
image promotion actions.
CITIES, PROSPERITY AND INFLUENCE 17
The Olympic Games and World Expos
The Olympic Games are now a major globalizing force in both economic and cultural terms
with their own stated set of public diplomacy objectives. The experience of and reception for
hosts of the Olympic Games in an established world city such as London in 2012, a new
world city such as Vancouver in 2010, an emerging market world city such as Beijing in 2008
and an emerging market city such as Rio de Janeiro in 2016 is inevitably going to be very
different. To judge the soft power effect of these events requires scrutinizing a variety of
factors such as the opening and closing ceremonies, the visitor experience, the Torch Relay
and the Cultural Olympiad. It is possible to discern a clear difference between the public
diplomacy objectives of the organizers of each of these Olympics and their reception by
foreign observers.
In Beijing in 2008, the universal message of the organizers was apparent in the Olympic
slogan ‘One World, One Dream’. The public diplomacy aim was simply to put Beijing at the
heart of a globalizing world but the month long global promotional tour of world cities that
was the Torch Relay attracted significant controversy, and by the time it reached London
had to be abandoned in advance of reaching Paris.32 This was due to the focus on China’s
human rights record and international criticism from multiple pressure groups. 33 The
Opening Ceremony of the Games had been intended as a display that would capture the
overall ambition to show China’s citizens and the rest of the world that the country was
reclaiming its rightful place in the global order, as well as showcasing China’s ‘strong
governing capacity and exceptional organizational skills’.34 Transparency and rights may
well have been sacrificed on the altar of national unity and pride.
The London Olympic Games in 2012 was no less controversial. For home audiences the
Opening Ceremony was celebrated as ‘irreverent and idiosyncratic’,35 indicative of the sense
of pride and confidence that many in the UK took in the ceremony and the staging of the
Games themselves. Yet in other parts of the world that very idiosyncrasy may have been
greeted with a degree of surprise. Back in Beijing:
An online survey conducted by Xinhua News offers a broad-brush perspective. Of all
the participants, a majority of 51 per cent liked London’s opening ceremony because
of its surprising elements, not least the Queen appearing to parachute into the
Olympic Stadium from a helicopter as part of a James Bond sketch, as well as its
more traditional British features. However, 49 per cent said they were not impressed,
32 The Daily Telegraph, (2008) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1584227/Olympic-torch-
extinguished-three-times.html, 18.09.16 33
Amnesty International (2008) https://www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/china-amnesty-open-letter-urges-president-hu-jintao-take-five-steps-improve-human 18.09.16 34
Yongnian Zheng, Ly Lian Fook (2008) 'China Post Olympics Rising Confidence amidst Challenges', China Policy Institute, The University of Nottingham, Briefing Series, Issue 42. https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/cpi/documents/briefings/briefing-42-china-post-olympics.pdf 35
Marina Hyde, ‘(2012) Olympic Games opening ceremony: irreverent and idiosyncratic', The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2012/jul/28/olympic-games-opening-ceremony-british 18.09.16
CITIES, PROSPERITY AND INFLUENCE 18
primarily due to the deployment of outdated technology and the less stringent
approach than Beijing’s to its overall presentation. Some also stated that they could
not grasp the story behind it at all.36
In the end the internal domestic messaging may well have been more important to the city
and country.
The first World Expo took place in Britain in 1851 - The Great Exhibition and was an attempt
to remind Britain’s subjects that the country was the world's pre-eminent industrial power.
The recent trend for Expos, more than the Olympics, has been for emerging world cities to
bid to host the events. With Astana hosting in 2017, and Dubai in 2020, emerging market
cities are seeking to develop greater global profile, they are often seeking to project an
image of strength or national pride back to their own populace, although the nature of these
events means that when the world is invited in, a broader and more cosmopolitan dialogue
and exchange of values takes place.
Policy Exchange
International policy exchange is today dominated by the engagement between emerging and
established market cities. In the past and in a less globalized world, the largely municipal
functions of a city required it to focus on the day-to-day business of running infrastructure
and utilities, restricting international engagement to geographically close partners or the
somewhat unfathomable activity of sister-city and twinning activities. Today the legacy of
those sorts of initiatives, while arcane, continues to facilitate policy exchange - particularly,
between established and emerging market cities.
The origins of sister-city partnerships can be found in the post-War policies of the United
States and United Kingdom in a drive towards encouraging exchanges for the sake of
fostering greater peace and prosperity. For instance after the Second World War, Coventry
in the UK was twinned with Dresden in Germany as an act of peace and reconciliation, with
both cities having been heavily bombed during the war. In both the UK and the US many
cities during this period also engaged not only with each other but also with more distant
capitals across Asia.
In many of these agreements one side of the partnership has often taken the partnership
more seriously than the other. This was particularly the case with China following the
‘opening up’ policies of by Deng Xaoping in the 1980s when many Chinese Mayors followed
in the footsteps of national political and business leaders to establish international city-to-city
partnerships. Chinese traditions of doing business are more oriented towards fostering long-
term cooperation and friendships than is the case in the European tradition, which meant
that for many United Kingdom and European cities the act of establishing partnerships with
China, at first perceived as no more than a cursory friendly handshake, subsequently came
36 http://www.theworldofchinese.com/2012/07/chinese-thoughts-on-londons-olympic-opening-
ceremony/ 18.09.16
CITIES, PROSPERITY AND INFLUENCE 19
to take on much greater importance. When Chinese cities with their vastly larger economies,
populations and growth rates, turned to smaller European cities to discuss economic and
cultural exchange, the dust was blown off various memoranda of understanding that had
languished in municipal filing cabinets, as the growth of the Chinese economy increasingly
captured the imaginations of city leaders.
For many city leaders especially in Asia, Singapore stands for efficiency and economic
success and the desire to imitate Singapore is strong. Singapore recognizes this but also
has to acknowledge that as a small city-state surrounded by multiple economic and
demographic giants its economic sustainability relies upon good international relations. In
2012 Singapore’s Centre for Liveable Cities established the World Cities Summit with the
aim of sharing best practice in city management worldwide. Part of the Summit programme
was to establish the much-coveted Lee Kwan Yew Prize for Sustainability City development.
This prize demonstrates the soft power of Singapore in the Asian region and increasingly,
globally, the extent of the reach of its city diplomacy and its power to encourage others to
move towards a shared mission of environmental protection.
One of the most daring, strange and controversial policy exchanges between two cities was
that in 2006 by the then Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, who had developed strong links
with Hugo Chavez, the President of Venezuela, sharing as they did an internationalist
socialist outlook.
In return for offering transport, planning and tourism advice to Caracas, London would
receive the equivalent of £16m worth of fuel. The plan was that London would actively
promote the image of Venezuela in the UK in return for a deal that would subsidize the fuel
bill of London buses, thereby relieving the Transport for London budget and freeing up funds
for Livingstone to offer reduced bus fares to 250,000 low-income Londoners. The whole
effort brought considerable policy disarray and confusion as the exchange was at odds with
national government policy towards Venezuela and there were no constitutional rules in
place to say that this kind of city-to-city exchange was permissible. However, neither were
there rules in place to say that it was not, so Mayor Livingstone marched on in pursuit of his
goal. The final scheme never reached fruition as Livingstone lost the 2008 election just as he
was bringing the deal to a close. The new Mayor scrapped the whole project immediately.
Cultural Exchange
Cities do not only seek economic growth through their city diplomacy. When they undertake
international activity they are also seeking cultural enrichment that will reinforce the
projection of their overall character and quality of life. The inherent cosmopolitanism of cities
requires that they continually seek international talent and ideas to maintain and enhance
their chances of economic success. In the World Cities Cultural Report produced by the
Mayor of London, the traditional notion that culture is a happy by-product of economic
success has been brought into question and an attempt has been made to show that
CITIES, PROSPERITY AND INFLUENCE 20
actually ‘culture is a critical requirement for social and economic progress: cultural vibrancy
and city success share a common DNA’.37
The soft power reach of city cultural relations is made possible by multiple institutions and
activities. In the broadest definition of cultural relations we capture every officially hosted city
event, the activities and output of artists, the visitor experience as well state-led investment
in cultural institutions. In Doha, capital of Qatar, the establishment of the Museum of Islamic
Art by the Qatari Museums Authority (QMA) is one of the most significant investments in
culture in the region. Under the leadership of Sheikha Al Mayassa, the QMA has set out to
establish the Museum of Islamic Art as a shrine to Islamic culture; collecting historical
Islamic artifacts from across three continents. In a statement piece of architecture, the
museum is a testament to the cosmopolitan history of Islam.
The soft power strategy of the Qatari Royal family has sought to position Doha as an
important regional and relevant global player through a range of activities. These include the
establishment of Al-Jazeera TV network, hosting the World Cup in 2020 and bidding to host
the Olympic Games in 2022. These global promotional strategies may benefit from the ‘halo
effect’ lent by association with the soft power values of the Olympic or the World Cup: a kind
of international legitimacy. But, they might just as easily attract criticism and controversy
from those concerned with the human rights of construction workers employed on stadia, or
allegations of rigged voting and corruption with a scandal infected FIFA. As a propaganda
strategy there is a huge mountain to climb in overcome established perceptions of Doha and
Qatar but there is also an inexorable globalizing impact from engaging in these cosmopolitan
conversations.
CITY DIPLOMACY AND INFLUENCE THROUGH NETWORKS
Supranational Bodies
The growing importance of cities and city diplomacy is testified to by the fact that many
supra-national bodies are turning their attention to cities. For example, the World Bank has
established a Resilient Cities Group, aimed at helping cities to develop responses to crises
such as climate change and manage difficult challenges and share best practice and has
established a useful series of urbanization reviews to help city leaders. In the process it has
established itself as an important resource for facilitating city diplomacy across established,
emerging and new world cities.
Such supra-national bodies share an agenda on the importance of cities, in particular
focused on their resilience and sustainability, and represent a recognition that international
connections and networks extend beyond inter-national bodies and fora and involved a
37 BOP Consulting (2015) World Cities Culture Report, p. 15.
CITIES, PROSPERITY AND INFLUENCE 21
wider range of actors than national governments. They represent a crucial network for cities
themselves to develop and engage with if they are to shape and strengthen their own city
diplomacy and offer potential points of policy leverage and cooperation in the face of
national policies that eclipse or contradict specifically urban interests and agendas.
Transnational City Networks
The contemporary experience of urbanization has required many global institutions to pay
increased attention to the importance of cities. The World Cities Cultural Forum, for
example, is a relatively new network of over thirty world cities that come together to
emphasize the importance of culture in city life and is an example of cities taking the
initiative to create their own city diplomacy channels. Established in London in 2012, it is
creating an evidence base and channels for collaboration and policy exchange. As a soft
power initiative the World Cities Cultural Forum has the potential to become an important
tool for dialogue in coming years, alongside other state-to-state relations, and broader soft
power approaches to keep dialogue open with Russia at a time of challenging regional
geopolitics.
City-led Agendas
An interesting contemporary example of independent city led city-to-city influencing is that of
New York in relation to policy and attitudes towards immigration. Major global cities rely on
people and most have foreign-born populations of near or greater than forty per cent. Yet
cities rarely control immigration or have the level of fiscal control to be able to manage all the
challenges population inflows and outflows may present. New York is one of the preeminent
established world cities and thrives on immigration. Moreover, despite being a city with
significant budgetary income and control to manage its business, it still depends on
centralized legislation and funding. Nevertheless, this has not stopped New York from
seizing the initiative and developing programmes to integrate its immigrant population,
creating a municipal identity (ID) programme for all New Yorkers, regardless of their
immigration status.
This example of leadership by New York constitutes an influential approach to city diplomacy
that co-opted and influenced other cities in the process and which is also influencing other
national governments in their development of policies that work for people and for cities. In
the UK this example would have given ballast to the London is Open Campaign of London
Mayor Sadiq Khan.38
Philanthropic City Networks
As yet there does not exist a specific city diplomacy network that champions the broad range
of interests, themes and challenges that cities face. As they continue to grow and align, we
38 https://www.london.gov.uk/pReSs-rElEaSeS/MaYoRaL/MaYoR-SeNdS-WeLcOmE-MeSsAgE-To-
tHe-wOrLd
CITIES, PROSPERITY AND INFLUENCE 22
may see a move towards a systematic network to advocate specifically on city diplomacy.
Alternatively, their increasing economic competitiveness may mitigate against this, confining
city-to-city engagement to the sharing of best practice.
ART, CITIZENSHIP AND THE PUBLIC REALM
Alongside the deliberate attempts at promoting and advocating for cities it is important for us
to also understand how the actions and activities of citizens influence cities. Increasingly, we
need to understand how and why the activities of civil society organizations and ordinary
citizens in cities are helping drive their international relationships and engagements, as well
as those of the nations of which they are a part.
Cities are arenas for broader institutions and processes, whether in politics, business,
education or arts and culture. However, cities also give shape to these activities through the
significance of place and space, as well as the energy and innovation that derives from
people living and working in proximity, density and diversity. Nowhere is this more evident
than in the public realm. The dynamic interaction between cities and arts and culture
contributes to the shaping of the public realm and to how cities use arts, culture and the
public realm to project themselves nationally and internationally. At its most simple the public
realm can be defined as ‘a place where strangers meet’.39
Important though new digital spaces might be, such physical places remain relevant –
gathering together people not known to one another, engaging in activities that are novel or
unfamiliar and that expand their horizons.
Art and culture has been used to inspire hearts and minds throughout history, underpinning
nationalist movements, celebrating religious passions and reflecting cultural identity.
Attempts to harness the soft power of art and culture can be crass and lose meaning,
potency and attraction if it borders on propaganda. The challenge for public and city
diplomacy initiatives drawing on the arts and the public realm is to find ways of allowing civil
society organizations speak for themselves, to foster cultural relations which do not risk
undermining the intended profiling and projection of a city by over-engineered broadcast and
messaging.
City branding and promotion is ultimately a signposting activity aimed at convincing the
onlooker and viewer that this is a great place to live, visit, study, and invest. Art, culture and
the public realm can be an intrinsic part of this. Signposting is fine so long as it is accurate -
signposting that is false is likely to have significantly detrimental effects and in the end
‘actions speak louder than logos’.40 The majority of cities, when they undertake international
activity, are still engaged in brand promotional activities and there is a need for cities to
39 Richard Sennett (2016) ‘Quant: The Public Realm’,
https://www.richardsennett.com/site/senn/templates/general2.aspx?pageid=16&cc=gb 40
David Adam (2012) 'Trends in Place Branding’, keynote address, Open Festival, Minsk.
CITIES, PROSPERITY AND INFLUENCE 23
become more sophisticated in their approach to move towards forms of city diplomacy in
which actions and spaces speak for themselves. It is sharing these ideas, spaces and
places that will unlock the power of attraction and generate broader alliances and networks
than simple self-promotion. The challenge for city diplomacy is to develop sophisticated
approaches that utilize but do not control or overly orchestrate the whole spectrum of the
arts, culture and politics of citizenship.
Ultimately the power of city diplomacy is best realized when it is an expression of the values
of civil society. Where there is an inconsistency between political rhetoric and local reality
then city diplomacy efforts will likely be undermined. We cannot project an image of a city as
the 'greatest place on earth to live' if the reality is only that for some of our citizens. City
government international relations strategies must priorities quality of life as a measure of
success, and seek to enrich the lives of citizens. A good city diplomacy strategy builds
international networks to enhance the cosmopolitan experience of being in that city for its
citizens, as well as its investors and visitors and this may be the best route to realizing the
benefits of soft power.
POLICY IMPLICATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS
There are a number of policy implications that emanate from the preceding analysis. For
national governments and policymakers they need to develop their understanding of the
ways in which cities can play a central role in supporting their foreign policy and soft power
strategies. They need to provide cities with the necessary support on the one hand and
sufficient autonomy on the other, to enable them to maximise their international influence
and attraction. The international pre-eminence of major world cities needs to be protected,
while ensuring that the many benefits such cities bring are shared widely across the rest of
their countries.
City level governments and policymakers would benefit from deliberately considering their
objectives for global influence, developing international strategies when appropriate.
Recognising that their international engagement and diplomacy form an important part of
their countries’ national strategies is important, as well as how they serve their own
metropolitan needs. City governments can make the most of the many activities available to
build international ties, including economic promotion, place-branding, attracting students
and tourists, and hosting major sporting, cultural, and economic events.
Critically, city diplomacy is most effective when it is organic and consistent with the reality
and interests of a city’s citizens. Citizens themselves could do more to use city networks in
support of their own international activities, while cultural, educational and civic institutions
based in cities can contribute to their city’s soft power through incorporating a city
perspective in their strategies and work, advancing their own and their city’s international
strategies and engagement in tandem. From a policy perspective it is key that the pursuit of
city-led agendas does not run directly counter to national public diplomacy and interests, or
those of other less urbanised areas of their region or country.
CITIES, PROSPERITY AND INFLUENCE 24
In conclusion, the 21st century challenges of creating prosperous and stable societies will
not be addressed by nation states alone, even with the support of supranational
organizations of global governance or multinational and transnational businesses. The
former tend to rely on and engage with those actors with the greatest political and economic
relevance, often at the expense of other sub-national levels of government. Cities are
increasingly networking among themselves and being recognized more and more as
important contributors to the management of global public goods and the international
economy.
In a world where economic, social, and cultural flows are multidirectional and fluid, cities
have been shown to be firmly at the heart of economic globalization. As nation-states
struggle to retain control within and across their sovereign boundaries over borderless socio-
political trends such as population movements, climate change, infectious diseases and
terrorist acts, cities may have much to contribute towards achieving greater stability and
security alongside their recognized disproportionate contribution to national prosperity in all
but the most agrarian economies. If they are to be allowed to play their part, their more
informal dynamics, collaborative and cosmopolitan approaches to society and their
integrative and open cultural strategies must be allowed to flourish. The challenge is for host
nation-states to give cities the relative autonomy to exercise influence and to exercise the
power of attraction necessary to help foster both prosperity and security as well as influence.
As the primary sites of innovation and with their naturally open outlook, hunger for
international talent, ideas and engagement, cities may well generate many of the solutions to
contemporary national and global problems. The challenge is for cities to have the relative
freedom to lead discussions, share ideas and develop the political and economic processes,
mechanisms and networks to deliver impact, while at the same time enabling cities to be
part of structures that are able to respond at scale. For their part, cities have a responsibility
to advance the opportunity to develop their own diplomatic and international relations
initiatives to extend their cultural relations reach in ways that contribute not only to their own
soft power but also that of their respective countries, forming a significant and intrinsic part
of national public diplomacy initiatives.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Jo Beall is Director of Education and Society at the British Council and a Visiting Professor for the
Development Studies Department and LSE Cities and David Adam is Principal of Global Cities.
ABOUT THE BRITISH COUNCIL
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This paper has been produced as part of the British Council’s Policy and Insight Working Paper Series.
Papers in this series may represent preliminary or on-going work, circulated to promote discussion and
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